Sector movers: Shire gives pharma sector a boost after Q3 beat

Strong results from Shire injected some gains into the pharmaceuticals sector on Thursday after the company beat quarterly forecasts and hiked its guidance for the full year.The FTSE 100 specialty biopharmaceuticals stock was up an impressive 8.4% at 2,737p in afternoon trade following its results, which saw a 30% jump in diluted earnings per share (EPS) to $1.77. This was some 9% ahead of consensus forecasts owing to better-than-expected revenues and lower operating expenditure.Product sales increased by 13% year-on-year to $1.20bn, with eight of its products delivering double-digit growth, including VYVANSE (+21%), LIALDA/MEZAVANT (36%) and FIRAZYR (+107%).Shire now foresees "mid-to-high teens" earnings growth for the 2013 financial year, ahead of its previous guidance for a double-digit increase.Analysts at Jefferies maintained their 'buy' rating for the stock following the results, saying it sees a "pipeline bonanza" in 2014. They said: "significant news flow next year could boost belief in longer-term organic growth prospects, which together with EPS growth accelerating potentially up to 15% can justify multiple expansion".Sector peers GlaxoSmithKline, BTG and AstraZeneca were also making gains on Thursday afternoon. Glaxo was rebounding today following a cool reaction to its own third-quarter results as revenue growth of 1% to £6.51bn missed forecasts. Top performing sectors so far todayPharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 11,225.97 +2.30%Automobiles & Parts 8,814.51 +1.78%Aerospace and Defence 5,269.30 +1.43%Industrial Metals & Mining 1,556.40 +1.43%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 24,923.84 +1.38%Bottom performing sectors so far todayGeneral Retailers 2,668.54 -0.82%Construction & Materials 4,247.60 -0.37%Industrial Transportation 3,313.82 -0.33%Electricity 9,166.41 -0.32%Mobile Telecommunications 5,319.14 -0.19%BC